Tuesday Night Run: Bloomington, Indiana

I broke down.

I invested just under $3 at Wal-Mart for a hat and a pair of gloves and ventured out in 32 degrees weather at 10:30 p.m. to get in a 6.95-mile run in 1:17:38 for a 11:10/mile pace. (If I had wanted to spend $6 for a hat, I could have had a nice Nascar hat with the numbers of my favorite driver. Do you ever think that they'll eventually convince Danica Patrick to switch one day from the IRL?)

One of the individuals who commented on yesterday's run is also a recent addition to Houston's running bloggers. Her name is Barbara Boone and her blog can be found at http://blog.barbaraboone.com/. Barbara stated that she is an IU grad and is the only one that may appreciate the following detail of the run. :)

I headed back west out of the hotel, crossing over State Road 37 and venturing to Liberty Road before turning south. (The bank clock tonight was a bit different. It wasn't 49 degrees. It was 32!) The plan was to go as long as I could without overdoing it - or until I got too cold (whichever came first.) Nice and easy, but log some miles.

I headed south on Liberty Rd. all the way to Bloomfield Rd. - where there sits a "Steak and Shake" restaraunt that I've eaten at a couple of times including earlier that evening. (I get the Chili 5-Way!) The night before, I headed back to the east to do a loop; however, I wanted to run something different. I couldn't head west on that stretch of Bloomfield Rd. to get to Curry Pike so I turned back around, went north to Constitution, took a left until I came to Curry Pike.

Somewhere around here was 3 miles and I wasn't completely comfortable. Not so much from the cold. With the hat on my head (not fashionable, by the way) and the fleece zipped up around my neck, my glasses started to fog up because of the heat that I was generating around them. You have to pay attention enough at night to watch for oncoming traffic, but the last thing I want to do is to run - and can't see!

Once I got on to Curry Pike to head north again, my plan was to get to Jonathan Rd. and head back towards the hotel. Across the street from Jonathan Rd. is the GE Applicances plant. However, once I got close to it, I felt the sluggishness in my legs begin to wear off and began to stroke it some (for me, that is.) I ran north all the way to Vernal Pike, turned back to the south, ran to Jonathan Rd., took a left (heading east) and then ventured back to the hotel.

I was soaked and although I probably could have gone a little bit longer, I want to stay healthy too! The course, overall, was primarily flat with a slight bit of elevation change on both Liberty and Curry Pike but nothing like any of my previous runs in the former land of Bobby Knight!

6.95 miles, 1:17:38, 11:10/mile pace
http://www.harra.org/Route.asp?MapID=675

Week -- 12.79 miles, 2:23:27, 11:13/mile